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Social media has played a major part in myriad aspects of modern business life.
Asides from allowing brands to promote themselves to global audiences as never before, it’s also an effective way for professionals to break into the business world.
But, what platforms do you want to use? And how can you ensure employers notice you? Let’s take a look.
From a business perspective
Before taking a look at the young professional’s side, it’s worth considering what social media has done for business.
Simultaneously a gift and a curse, it provides brands the world over with a (sometimes free, although increasingly expensive) opportunity to market themselves.
But inside offices the world over, it’s responsible for many hundreds of hours of lost productivity each year. Often companies will have a social media policy to keep their workforce away from their accounts.
So, as the old saying goes, it’s something of a double-edged sword. But it’s usually less troublesome for the individuals looking to start their careers.
With that in mind, where’s the best place to start?
Sign up to LinkedIn
Unquestionably the leading professional networking site in the world, it’s imperative any young professional add themselves to LinkedIn.
It’s a case of adding your details and making your account stand out. Include your educational and work history, adding in the official accounts for the businesses you’ve worked for.
From there, you can also have testimonials from any managers you’ve worked for. Or any professors from your university days.
But LinkedIn is a brilliant platform for getting noticed by recruiters. You can setup your account to let them, or any businesses, find you. And it can really open up doors for you to get noticed.
Mix it up with other platforms
But social media’s capacity to create career opportunities doesn’t end at LinkedIn.
Twitter is a surprisingly effective method. With many businesses online, it’s easy to follow the accounts of any brands you’re interested in. Some of these will even have designated separate recruitment accounts to follow, too.
You can also reach out to recruiters, or respond to any job opportunities you see posted straight onto accounts.
Facebook’s messaging system
The social media giant has tried to “Take the work out of hiring” for businesses the world over. American and Canadian businesses can now post jobs to their business pages.
If this proves successful, it will likely cross over to the UK as well. This is where you can steal an advantage. Smarten up your account and wait to see what happens.
But, at the same time, Facebook is still an opportunity to send off speculative applications to businesses.
Just as a final note for this version, you should also present yourself well on Facebook. Remove any potentially embarrassing pictures from your old nights out and embrace a clean, professional image.
Personality still goes a long way in the modern business world, but you do want to tone down any of your excessive downtime behaviour.
Try alternatives
If you’re looking for a niche market, then you may want to try various other, lesser known professional networking sites. Some of these include:
• Meetup.
• VisualCV.
• Twylah.
• PartnerUp.
• BranchOut.
Again, these are particularly useful if you’re in a specific line of work. If you’re a web designer or web developer, for instance, then a site like Behance is a great place to turn.
You can showcase your work and see if you can catch the attention of any industry names.
But whatever industry you’re in, you can guarantee there’ll now be an equivalent for you to turn to. Setup an account and see what you can do. Your initiative can pay impressive dividends.
Making connections
Ultimately, whoever platform you pick it’s a networking opportunity. The simple act of reaching out can lead to bigger things.
Perseverance is often the key to success in business. What may be a rejection one month, could turn into an interview several months down the line if an employer has your name on file.
But social media is a fantastic way for you to get yourself noticed. And if you back this up with extra-curricular activities and personal projects, then you have a strong opportunity of making a big step up onto your particular career ladder.
